how to drive RK

how RK drives itself

wei / is fe / Mar 18 2020

problem & idea

we had an earlier sharing

  • when team was small, everybody shared #TWIL for 10 mins

  • as we grew, we change to everybody taking turns

  • as we grew even bigger, new joiners weren't sure what to share and the duration and quality of talks started to vary too much

i know you have time to keep the sharing running, but you definitely won't have the time to make it great

idea

there was no idea

there was no idea

there was some idea

  • cozy sharing space

  • build a podium

  • lucky draw -> by proposal
    no conference is run by lucky draw bah

  • no help -> a lot of help
    your 1st time speaking experience is of critical importance

what is an internal podium that runs weekly, squeezing proposals out of home-grown speakers

proof of concept

our podium

proposal based instead of taking turns -> where to find talks ah?

finding talks

  • reach out to “senior” members
    intentionally decided not to do this anymore

  • have lunches with people and discuss about interesting things they are working on

  • regularly pitch this during each event

  • regular speakers affect others

helping people get started with speaking

dry run, brainstorm sessions

the talks that people come up with from their own are much more interesting than those as a task

improve it

quality of talks

  • dry run / preparation brainstorm

  • encourage our speakers to speak at local meetups / host meetups in our office

  • encourage our speakers to submit talks for conferences

  • invite outside speakers to speak at RK

more variety in content

  • “show and tell”

  • “featured” + “lightning” talks

  • “soft skills” discussion / sharing

  • games

  • podcast style chat

maintain it

consistency is crucial

you don't have to come, but we're always here

the challenges are constant

solve any problems that come up

video recording rendering was taking a lot of (Ken's and his laptop's) time

we did not have a solution until much later

right after we move office, we didn't have a space

now COVID-19 is killing nearly all gatherings...

...until you're used to solving those unknown problems

train your ability to drive things

learn a project

  • React Rally (and other conferences)

  • WaffleJS

  • Super Silly Hackathon

contribute

  • Coding Girls

  • Global Diversity CFP Day

controbute & learn

  • ...

  • JSConf Asia

  • JSConf Budapest

  • JSConf China

  • YGLF

participate

  • SingaporeCSS

  • EngineersSG

to gain confidence in your judgement on a smaller project, you must look at a bigger scope

drive it

there is a cause you deeply believe in

...although whether it actually keeps going or not may not align with your own faith

the ugly baby and the hungry beast

- Ed Catmull, President of Pixar

https://www.technologyreview.com/f/615376/pixars-computer-graphics-pioneers-have-won-the-1-million-turing-award/

two, it's constantly a dynamic work in progress, at any moment, it can go better or worse in the next moment

drive it

drive it

steerwheel it

you must identify your space & boundaries,

try to match them,

the more flexible and resourceful you are, the more likely it is to survive

you may have to “call it”,

...but if you can take the setbacks and survive, you must find and reveal the driving force in its own value to grow it,

but it's shaped by you

  • problem = sth that comes up and needs a solution, without which would block you

  • setback = sth that pushes you backwards along your goal but there's nothing you can do for the matter being

  • failure = you determine that no reasonable effort can help you reach the goal

  • wrong direction = you determine the goal not worth pursuing

how RK drives itself

By Wei Gao

how RK drives itself

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